Carlyn Weibel, 90, leaves behind daughter Deana Weibel-Swanson (Glen), son Carl Weibel, and grandson Luke Swanson, as well as niece Kim Place-Gateau (Jamie), nephews Christopher Place (Stephanie) and Carl Place (Linjun), great-nephew Tyler Place, and cousins Douglas Fernlock (Tricia), Laurie Samuel (Craig) and George "Pat" Sharrard (Julie). She was predeceased by her father Carl Schneidewind, mother Jenette Schneidewind, and sister Annie Delp (Steve). She was born as Carlyn Jenette Schneidewind (after both of her parents, “Carl & Jenette”) in Detroit during the Great Depression and lived in a small home at 936 Glynn Court with her grandparents, Richard and Selma Schneidewind, as well as a coterie of aunts, uncles and cousins, until she was seven years old and the start of WWII made an “army brat” of Carlyn. She traveled around the country and even throughout Europe with her parents (and later her sister), relying mostly on books and the radio for company. Eventually she returned to Michigan, studying social work and graduating from Michigan State University in 1954.

After graduation she followed her parents to California, soon landing a job as a Deputy Probation Officer for the County of Orange, a position she held for 37 years. She was very proud to have the Number One probation officer badge for the county – when she could no longer carry it in her wallet, she displayed it in plaque on her wall. A first marriage, to police officer Joseph Currie in 1961, was soon annulled. She married educator Norman Dean Weibel in 1966 and they had two children together, Deana and Carl. After the dissolution of their marriage in 1981, Carlyn enjoyed league bowling, singing in the women’s barbershop chorus group Sweet Adelines, as well as bargain hunting in thrift stores, renovating furniture and other household items, caring for feral cats and other animals, and maintaining a whimsical backyard statuary garden. She enjoyed occasional travel, including a 1999 train trip throughout Western Europe with Deana, which is where she first developed her love of Bailey’s Irish Cream. In her later years she retained her love of Bailey’s and enjoyed quiet nights with a glass while watching TV, especially Golden Girls, Two and a Half Men, and her very favorite, Everybody Loves Raymond.

Carlyn’s health took a downturn in early 2023, but she had a lovely 90th birthday with family in August. Her caregiver, Michele, made sure she had delicious things to eat and a friendly companion with whom to share her poetry and memories. She passed away in Santa Ana, California on November 16, 2023 after spending her last days with her loving children at her side.

Carlyn had a strong commitment to honesty and an unwavering morality and sense of self. She believed strongly in such issues as birthright citizenship, holding politicians and others in authority to a heightened legal standard, kindness to animals, and the separation of church and state. She explicitly forbade any kind of funeral or memorial after her death, so her family requests that anyone wishing to make a gesture in her memory could give to Americans United for Separation of Church and State. 

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